Car-roof



Patented Feb. 17,1891.

0. M. JENNINGS.

GAR R001? (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. g

OURTIS M. JENNINGS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CAR-RO OF.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,780, dated February1'7, 1891.

Application filed August 30, 1890. Serial No. 363,490. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, CURTIS M. JENNINGS, of the city of St. Louis, inthe State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Car-Roofs, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to produce a car-roof which will besimple in construction and easily applied, and which will be durable andperfectly water-tight.

My invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fullydescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I is a perspective view showing a portion of the body of a carprovided with my improved roof. Fig. IIis a verticallongitudinal sectionof the roof, taken on line II II, Fig. III, the supporting frame ortimbers being omitted. Fig. II is an enlargcdview of a portion of Fig.II. Fig. III is a transverse section taken on line III III, Fig. IV.Fig. III is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. III. Fig. IV is avertical longitudinal section taken on line IV IV, Fig. III, but made ona smaller scale. Fig. V is a perspective view of one of the corner-caps,and Fig. V I is a perspective view of the other form of corner-cap.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the body of a freight-car,having the usual framework 2 for supporting the roof to which myinvention relates. The roof is composed of a number of sheets 3 of anydesired size. The.

adjacent sides of the sheets are joined together as follows: One of thesheets is provided at its edge adjacent to the next sheet with a doublebend 4:, forming a vertical rib 5, from which protrudes a nailing-flange6, by which the sheet is held to the frame of the roof. The adjacentedge of the next sheet covers the nailing-flange 6, and is provided witha single bend 7,formingavertical flange 8, fitting up against the sideof the rib 5. The rib 5 and flange 8 are then covered by a V- shapedstrip 9, secured to the rib 5 and flange 8 by rivets 10, thus securelyholding the strip in place and holding the flange S and rib 5 firmlytogether. The joint thus formed is thoroughly waterproof and durable andhas sufficient rigidity to prevent its being mashed or crushed ifstepped upon. The adjacent sides of all the sheets of the roof are thusformed. The section shown in Fig. II illustrates two of the joints. v j

The ends of the sheets at the ridge or peak of the roof are joined asfollows: The sheet on one side of the car has its upper end formed witha double bend 11, forming a rib 12, from which extends a nailing-flange13. (See Fig. III.) The adjacent end of the sheet on the other side ofthe roof is formed with a double bend 14, forming a rib 15, which fitsover the rib l2 and terminates at the base of the bend 11, as shown at16. This joint is thoroughly waterproof and is sufficiently strong,owing to the fact that it cannot be trod upon, for the reason that therunningboard is placed over or covers it. The adjacent ends of all ofthe sheets are joined together in the manner I have described. Thecorners of the sheets are joined and covered by heavy flat-headed caps17 and 18, formed with the grooves 19 to receive the ribs of the roofwhich I have described. The grooves form projections 20, which rest uponthe surface of the sheets, and their flat heads form the support for therunning-board 21. The caps 17 are interspersed between the caps 18, andhave downwardly-extending shanks 22, which extend through the framing ofthe carroof, as shown in Fig. IV, where they are provided with nuts 23,by which the caps are clamped firmly down upon the sheets and securelyhold the sheets to the framing of the roof, the grooves 19 being of theproper size to fit snugly over the ribs of the sheets, and thus serve toclamp and hold the layers of the ribs together. The caps 18 areperforated to receive bolts 24, passing up through the framing of thecar-roof, and having nuts 25 over the caps, and by which the caps areheld down firmly upon the roof, the same as the caps 17 The bolts 2-lextend up beyond the caps, forming a means for connecting thecross-strips 26 of the running-board to the carroof, the bolts havingnuts 27 above the crossstrips. It will thus be seen that the'bolts 24perform the function of holding the runningboard in addition to holdingthe caps 18. A

sufiioient number of the caps I'S-and bolts 2 T are used to hold therunning-board, and in between them are placed the caps 17, upon whichthe eross-strips of the running-board may rest, but to which they arenot secured, thus clieapening the construction, as it is unnecessary tohave the running-board attached to the car-roof at all of the joints ofthe corners of the sheets.

A ear-roof thus formed is cheap and du rable, is easily made, and can beput together without the use of skilled labor.

I claim as my invention 1. In a car-root, the combination of the sheetsunited at their sides by means of joints consisting of double bendsforming a rib and a nailing-flange on one of the sheets,a single bendforming a flange on the other sheet, and a cap covering said rib andflange and riveted thereto, substantially as shown and described.

2. A car-root consisting of sheets united at their sides by jointsconsisting of double bends in one of the sheets, forming a rib and l anailingtiange, a single bend in the other sheet, forming a flangefitting against said rib, a cap eoveringsaid flange and rib and rivetedthereto, and such sheets being further united at their ends by jointsconsisting of double bends in one of the sheets, forming a riband avnailing-flange, and a double bend in the other sheet, forming a ribcovering the rib having a nailing-llangr-, substantially as set forth.

:3. In a car-roof, the combination of the sheets united at their sidesand ends by suitable joints, and caps covering the corners of the sheetsand bolted to the framing of the car-roof, said caps having grooves toreceive the joints of said sheets, and projections between the grooves,which rest upon said sheets and having fiat upper surfaces to supportthe running-board, substantially as set forth.

4. In a car-root, the combination of the sheets having joints at theirsides and ends and caps for covering the corners of the sheets, part ofsaid caps being perforated for the passage of bolts by which the runningboard is secured to the car, and the remainder of said caps havingdownwardly-projecting stems by which they are clamped upon the sheets,and all of said caps having grooves to receive the joints of the sheets,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

CUR'IIS M. JENNTN n'.

In presence of 'Jnos. KNIGHT, Bnmx. A. Kmon'r.

